Which death of a character was totally unnecessary and damaging?

[asafi]

For instance, I have 2 examples on my mind.. killing off Melvin "Mel" Hayes (one life to live) and Rex Sterling (the young and the restless) was a very cruel move from TPTB. 

Mel and Dorian had such a great chemistry and relationship.. why ending this after only 2 years?

And same can be said regarding Rex and Katherine.. they were a very strong couple so killing off Rex in 1994 was a huge mistake, in my opinion.

 

[Forever8]

Colleen Cecile Carlton - YR 

 

That Damn MAB! Just the idea of killing off Traci and Brad's only child and John Abbott's eldest granddaughter. Let's not forget Brad had died some months before her. Only to come back in the technicolor dream to bring her into the afterlife. 

 

We should be seeing her with her family, friends, working at Jabot and potentially a romance/supercouple status with Scotty Grainger. Imagine if Traci and Lauren wasn't keen on their kids respectively seeing one another. Or perhaps they would contend with their own version of Sheila Carter (With Better Writers)

 

So much potential wasted in my opinion. 

 

Tammin grew into the role by the time she left.

 

But they could've sent her off to go with Steve and Traci to New York City. Or perhaps she went out of the country to find herself and come back within six months with a new face. Maybe Colleen could've stayed in a coma to a recast could be found. Perhaps some top-notch surgeon could've helped her to wake from her slumber?! 

[Khan]

One name: Maureen Bauer.

[carolineg]

GH:

Alan Q, Emily , AJ, Georgie Jones.  GH basically owns this thread.  Way to decimate your main family by killing them off one by one.  And also kill of a young, likable heroine with supercouple parents.  So short-sighted.

 

GH also tends to kill off heroines they invest a lot in when they don't work: Courtney, Kate 2.0, Sabrina, Chloe, Reese, Leyla, Abby (off screen being hit by a crane lol), etc.

[asafi]

I also thought about Renée DuMonde (Days of our lives).. she was killed too quickly (during 1983) and I think she had great potential as heiress to the Dimera family. 

 

By the ways, DOOL killed and brought back from the death so many characters so it's difficult to think of other examples from this soap. 

[AbcNbc247]

Mary Frances “Frankie” Frame Winthrop owns this thread 

[Forever8]

Ignore my prior comment!!! 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Forever8
Wrong info

[carolineg]

Brenda Benet played Lee Dumonde.  Philece Sampler played Renee.  It did seem odd to kill Renee of so quickly because I think she was popular and popular with Tony.

[Forever8]

My bad! I was half glancing at the paragraph. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Forever8

[Faulkner]

Diane Jenkins and Hilary Curtis - Y&R 

 

I mean, there are almost too many to list. Soaps can often be so short-sighted in their search for big climaxes to stories (for ratings), and one decision made by a single reckless regime can hobble a show for generations. 

[David_Vickers]

AMC --- Jenny Gardner Nelson,  Natalie Dillon

 

DAYS --- Reneé Dumonde DiMera, David Banning

 

GH -- Dr. Alan Quartermaine, Emily Quartermaine, Georgie Jones, AJ Quartermaine, Dr. Rick Webber

 

ONE LIFE -- Mel Hayes, Drew Buchanan, Meredith Lord Wolek, Duke Buchanan. Keri Reynolds

 

Y&R --- Colleen Carlton, Hilary Curtis Winters, Diane Jenkins

Edited December 1, 2020 by David_Vickers

[titan1978]

Y&R- Colleen and Brad Carlton should not have been killed off, and neither should Drucilla.

 

DAYS- I thought killing Zach was a mistake then, and I still feel that way.  Not a big fan of Bo being killed off either.

 

GL- Maureen is more than just a mistake.  It’s the tonal shift that sets a stage for what soaps became after that.  No more sense of home, warmth, and that maternal guidance that used to be common and helped the characters along their way.  I didn’t even see her until later thanks to YouTube, and I totally see what happened and why it was wrong for this genre and that show’s DNA specifically.

 

But GH was the worst for me-

 

Alan should not have been killed off.  There was plenty of mileage for that character still.  Same with Georgie, and I’m still mad they killed her, Coop and Logan off.  Emily too.  Just wasteful for future story and there was potential with all of them.

 

[Paul Raven]

Y&R 

Liz Foster

Liz should have been appearing all those years and not killed off for the awful reveal. Obviously if the actress was not well enough to appear then perhaps a death is a appropriate but not for that storyline.

 

Dina Mergeron.

A poorly told story instead of bringing back Dina as a role model for a dynamic relevant older woman.

[Forever8]

I would've preferred if Georgie would've went away to somewhere like Johns Hopkins for medical school. And have her come back in a few years if you didn't know what to do with her as a character. 

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Days - Zack Brady, Bill Horton (killing him off just to celebrate Bill Hayes’ 50 anniversary was stupid!), Renee DuMonde, David Banning, Neil Curtis (it’s implied that he is dead) and Beauregard. 
 

Y&R: Nathan Hastings, Liz Foster, John Abbott

 

AW: Steve Frame, Frankie Frame

 

GL: Maureen Bauer, Ross Marler

Edited December 1, 2020 by Dr Neil Curtis